Bottled beverage case



Oct. 8, 1963 l 1. c. KAzlMlER- 3,106,303

BOTTLED BEVERAGE CASE l Filed Jan. 3o, 1962 2 sheets-sheet 1 Oct. 8,1963 J. c. KAzlMn-:R I 3,106,308

' BOTTLED BEVERAGE CASE Filed Jan. so, 1962 2 sheets-sheet 2 Fig. 3.

INVENTOR JULIAN C. KAznmER United States Patent O 3,106,308 BOTTLEDBEVERAGE CASE Julian C. Kazimier, Edinburg, Ind., lassignor to Amos-Thompson Corporation, Edinburg, Ind., a corporation of Indiana FiledJan. 30, 1962, Ser. No. 169,892 2 Claims. (Cl. 220-21) This inventionrelates generally to cases for bottled beverages and in particular to amolded case formed of plastic material such as, for example, high impactstrength styrene, polyethylene or the like.

The wooden, bottled soft drink case has lon-g been utilized in thebottling industry, and automatic equipment associated therewith isdesigned, as to various tripping mechanisms, to accommodate cases ofstandard dimensions. The conventional wood cases, and metal or moldedplastic cases intended to supercede the wood cases, have often utilizedinternal partitions to provide bottle receiving compartments. Use ofsuch partitions multiplies the number of dirt and debris collectingcorners in the case, and particularly in wood cases, these cornersprevent satisfactory steam cleaning. Since soft drink cases are oftendelivered directly to homes, not to retail stores as is the case withmilk cartons or bottles, the cleanliness and appearance of the softdrink case is a matter of great importance.

Another difculty involved in the use of conventional wood cases resultsfrom the marring Ior defacing of the trademark or legend customarilyplaced on the side panels of the case. This defacing occurs frequentlyeven during normal transport and usage of the cases andbrings about morecase replacements than does fracturing or other failure of the caseitself. Where attempts have been made to replace wood cases withinternal partition type molded plastic cases, thermal shrinkage of thepartitions as the case cools after molding produces a soalloping or wavycontour on the relatively thin case side walls. This irregular side wallsurface prevents use of a simple hot-stamping process to place therequired legend or trademark on the casing side walls and necessitatesuse of relatively expensive decalcomania methods or the like. Y

It is an object of the present invention to provide a bottled beveragecase which is light in weight, which can be fabricated by a simple,direct molding process and which is characterized by an absence of sharpcorners throughout, thereby facilitating cleanliness during prolongeduse.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a moldedbeverage case of the type referred to which utilizes an apertured topplate, rather than internal partitions, the plate being supportedcentrally by registering bosses or projections on the plate and on thecase bottom to provide rigidity to the case.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a case of thetype referred to in which the apertured top plate can be snapped into orout of overlying relation to the open, upper face of the case.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a case of thetype referred to in which the case side walls or panels are inset toprevent marring or defacing of the legend imprinted thereon in normalusage of the case.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from theaccompanying drawings and the following description `and the claims.

FIG. `1 is a perspective view of a case embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken generally along the -lne2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the case shown in FIG. 1 withthe top plate removed.

FIG. 4 isa fragmentary side sectional View similar to ice FIG. 2 butillustrating a modified form of the invention characterized by a snap-insecuring of the top plate.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1-3, a crate or case embodying the presentinvention is shown generally at 10. As may best be seen in FIG. l, thecase is composed of a body, generally rectangular in conguration, havingan open upper -face which is closed by a top plate 11. The top plate isprovided with a series of bottle receiving apertures 15 which areoriented with respect to certain interior parts, to be subsequentlydescribed, to provide bottle compartments. The body also includes anintegral base ball 12, side walls 13 and end walls 14.

The side walls and end walls have their central portions 13a and 14ainset with relation to the corners or junctional areas 16 of the sidewalls and end walls. As may best be seen in FIGS. l, 2 and 3, the uppermarginal areas of each of said side and end walls 13 and 14 are flangedoutwardly and upwardly adjacent the inset central portions, theoutwardly flanged portion being identified at 17 in FIG. 2 and theupwardly extending portion being identilied'at 18. The outwardly flangedportion 17 provides a horizontal shelf area adjacent the inset portionsof the side and end walls which, as will be evident from FIG. 2 supportthe marginal areas of the top plate 11. The upper marginal section ofeach of the upwardly extending portions 18 is thickened to provide aninwardly extending lip 19 which functions to retain the plate 11 inposition against the horizontal shelf area of the portion 17 of thebody.

The inset portions 14a of the end walls are provided with hand gripapertures 21 and adjacent Ithe end margins of the hand grip aperturesthe body end walls have integrally molded therein generally triangularflanges 22. The flanges 22 define a central portion of the outwardlyanged portion 17 which is shaped as indicated at 23 in FIG. 2. From FIG.2 it will be evident that this central length of the hanged portion 17is molded so as `to extend downwardly away from the adjacent horizontalshelf area to provide a hand grip abutment at the upper margins of thehand grip apertures 21.

. As will be evident from FIGS. 2 and 3, the base wall 12 of the body isprovided with raised portions 26 of frusto-conical configuration, eachof the raised portions being provided with an aperture 27. As may bestbe seen in FIG. 3, the base wall 12, on its inner face, is crossed byribs 28. The base wall 12 is further provided with drainage aperture 29`spaced across the expanse of the base wall. At the junctions of certainof the ribs 28 tubular,

vertically extending bosses 31 are provided, the orientation of thebosses 31 being such as to cooperate with the apertures 15 to providebottle receiving compartments, a typical soft drink bottle beingindicated by broken lines in FIG. 2. The bosses 31 are integrally moldedin the body 4and are -tubularor hollow for conserving material and alsoto provide cavities for reception of feet or bumpers 32 (FIG. 2) whichare inserted into the open end of certain of the bosses 31 as required.The feet 32 are preferably formed of a somewhat resilient material suchas rubber or the like which will provide considerable sliding frictionwith relation to a conveyor belt or other relatively smooth surface uponwhich the case might be placed. The non-skid characteristic imparted tothe case by the presence of the feet 32 solve a diculty present in priormolded cases which, because of their hard, smooth base surface Itendedto skid or slide out of place when deposited onan inclined supportingsurface.

Extending downwardly from the underfaoe of the topy FIG. 2. The lugs 34are longer than the bosses or abutments 33 and make end-to-endengagement with the upper ends of certain of the upwardly extendingbosses 31 to provide support in the central area of the top plate 11. ltwill be understood that the number of lengthened lugs 34, providingcentral support for the plate may be varied as required by molding thetop plate 11 so as to provide more or less lengthened lugs 34 in placeof the shorter bosses 33.

The integrally molded body and its accompanying top plate just describedmay be molded from an elastomeric material which is somewhat flexibleand when so molded it will be evident that the top plate, while held inplace during normal usage, can be installed or removed by deforming itsomewhat and snapping its marginal edges past the lips 19 formed on theupwardly extending portions 18 of the side and end walls. Where the bodyand its accompanying top plate are molded of a more flexible material, amodified arrangement for securing the top plate to the body isillustrated in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4 parts having the same configuration asthose of FIGS. 1 3 are given the same reference numerals.

Referring to FIG. 4, the horizontally extending portions 17 are providedwith integral, upwardly extending lugs 41 and these lugs register withand are received in apertures 42 formed in the top plate 11. Theupwardly extending portion 43 of the side and end walls of the body(this portion corresponding to the portion 18 of FIG. 2) is devoid ofthe lip portion 19 referred to with respect to FIG. 2 and the top plate11 is not deformed in seating of the plate on the horizontal shelfportion 17. After the plate 11 is in place on the shelf portion 17 thelugs 41 are peened over as indicated by broken lines in FIG. 4 to retainthe plate in place.

From the foregoing it will be evident that a beverage case embodying thepresent invention can be molded from a simple, direct molding process.The resulting case is light and strong. The insetting of the side panelsprovides a protected area upon which the trademark legend of theparticular beverage company utilizing the case may be accommodated.Since there are no internal partitions within the case, there are nosharp corners to make cleaning of the case difficult and the absence ofpartitions further eliminates any irregularities in the inset sidepanels thereby permitting the trademark legend to be inscribed thereonby relatively inexpensive hot stamping processes. The corner orjunctional areas 16 are dimensioned so as to be equal to the dimensionsof the conventional wood case and the molded case is therebyinterchangeable with wood cases in various automatic transporting andconveying equipment. A slight draft along the length of the junctionalarea 16 permits empty cases to be stacked and the frusto-conical,concave configuration of the underface of the base wall 12 of the casepermits stacking of the full cases with the bottle tops of theunderlying case contacting the base wall of the overlying case adjacentthe apertures 27. The presence of the apertured top wall provides therequired stability to the bottles in the case and adds rigidity to thecase. The provision of registering bosses 31 and 34 extending from theinner faces of the top plate 11 and the base wall 12 further serve torigidify and support the central area of the top plate. The presence ofthe hand grip abutments 23 adjacent the upper margins of the hand gripapertures 21 adds to the convenience and comfort of one handling loadedcases. The arrangement for securing the top plate on the body of thecase, particularly the arrangement shown in FIGS. 1-3, permits the topplate to be easily and conveniently installed and removed for cleaningof the case. v

While the invention has been disclosed and described in some detail inthe drawings and foregoing description, they are to be considered asillustrative and not restrictive in character, as other modificationsmay readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art and withinthe broad scope of the invention, reference being had to the appendedclaims.

I claim:

l. A bottle crate of the molded plastic type comprising a rectangularbody having an open upper face and an integral base wall, side walls andend walls, the central portions of said side walls and end Walls beinginset with relation to the corner junctions of said side and end walls,the upper marginal areas of each of said side and end walls adjacentsaid inset portions being flanged outwardly and upwardly to provide ahorizontal shelf area adjacent said inset portions of the side and endwalls, the upper marginal section of each of said upwardly angedportions being thickened to provide an inwardly extending lip, hand gripapertures in the inset portions of said end walls, said shelf areasimmediately above said hand grip apertures being deformed downwardly toprovide a hand grip abutment at the upper margins of said apertures, aseries of tubular bosses extending vertically upwardly from said basewall and spaced to provide bottle retaining compartments, and a topplate closing the open upper face of said body, said top plate yhaving aseries of apertures therein oriented with respect to said tubular bossesto retain bottles in the bottle compartments, said top plate beingdeformable to snap past said inwardly extending lips and to be retainedthereby in overlying relation to said horizontal shelf areas, said topplate having depending bosses thereon registering with and in end-to-endengagement with certain of said tubular bosses to provide centralsupport for said top plate.

2. A bottle crate of the molded plastic type comprising a rectangularbody `having an open upper face and an integral base wall, side wallsand end walls, the central portions of said side walls and end wallsbeing inset with relation to the corner junctions of said side and endwalls, the upper marginal areas of each of said side and end wallsadjacent said inset portions being flanged outwardly and upwardly toprovide a -horizontal shelf area adjacent said inset portions of saidside and end walls, hand grip apertures in the inset portions of saidend walls, said shelf areas immediately above said hand grip aperturesbeing deformed downwardly to provide a hand grip abutment at the uppermargins of said apertures, a series of bosses extending verticallyupwardly from said base wall and spaced to provide bottle retainingcompartments, and a top plate closing the open upper face of said body,said top plate having a series of apertures therein oriented withrespect to said base wall bosses to retain bottles in the bottlecompartments, means for retaining said top plate in overlying relationto said horizontal shelf areas, said top plate having depending bossesthereon registering with and in end-to-end engagement with certain ofsaid base Wall bosses to provide central support for said top plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,410,251 Taurman Oct. 29, 1946 2,574,983 Reed Nov. 13, 1951 2,758,742Farrell Aug. 14, 1956 2,970,715 Kappel et al. Feb. 7, 1961 FOREIGNPATENTS 547,980 Belgium v June l5, 1956

1. A BOTTLE CRATE OF THE MOLDED PLASTIC TYPE COMPRISING A RECTANGULARBODY HAVING AN OPEN UPPER FACE AND AN INTEGRAL BASE WALL, SIDE WALLS ANDEND WALLS, THE CENTRAL PORTIONS OF SAID SIDE WALLS AND END WALLS BEINGINSET WITH RELATION TO THE CORNER JUNCTIONS OF SAID SIDE AND END WALLS,THE UPPER MARGINAL AREAS OF EACH OF SAID SIDE AND END WALLS ADJACENTSAID INSET PORTIONS BEING FLANGED OUTWARDLY AND UPWARDLY TO PROVIDE AHORIZONTAL SHELF AREA ADJACENT SAID INSET PORTIONS OF THE SIDE AND ENDWALLS, THE UPPER MARGINAL SECTION OF EACH OF SAID UPWARDLY FLANGEDPORTIONS BEING THICKENED TO PROVIDE AN INWARDLY EXTENDING LIP, HAND GRIPAPERTURES IN THE IN SET PORTIONS OF SAID END WALLS, SAID SHELF AREASIMMEDIATELY ABOVE SAID HAND GRIP APERTURES BEING DEFORMED DOWNWARDLY TOPROVIDE A HAND GRIP ABUTMENT AT THE UPPER MARGINS OF SAID APERTURES, ASERIES OF TUBULAR BOSSES EXTENDING VERTICALLY UPWARDLY